framework 13 AMD... yay or nay?

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I can confirm the Intel version of the Framework 13 works amazingly with an eGPU (Fedora). 11th gen was my daily driver until I upgraded to a Framework 16

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I currently own a Framework 13... and... after daily driving it for a year, I decided I don't like it.

The deal beaker for me is the high dpi display. Linux just isn't 100% compatible with hpi displays. I'm tired of my apps either having blurry fonts or tiny text. Ironic because hi dpi displays are supposed to look better.

With Framework, you'll be pushed into using Fedora (it doesn't solve all the scaling issues) or pushed to stop using apps you like because they're using older GTK (some times there are no alternatives). You'll also have to dive into debugging scaling issues.

I just switched back to my Dell XPS 13 9310 FHD and it was a breath of fresh air having everything just work. Any distro, any apps, no scaling debugging, text is readable and crisp, app UI elements look properly sized.

I only ever switched out the modular ports once, but honestly it would have been better to buy a dongle instead because that would work on any computer.

Oh, and I tried the higher resolution screen. It didn't fix the scaling issues.

Oh, and, I actually had a display fail on me! After like 8 months, half the display went black. Thankfully, they were nice enough to send me a free replacement, but it definitely left me feeling like the Framework isn't that sturdy or durable.

The shell also dents easily. I dropped a small music player from desk height onto the top lid and it left a small dent. (I have like 3 dents on the lid.)

Repairability is the one feature that the Framework beats everyone else on, but to me the cons outweigh the pros.

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i have the intel one, i love it.

it matches with my definition of laptop, portable, 2k screen, the battery lasts a lot and a bit touchpad.

i have kde 6.x so i also have TouchPad gestures.

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I have a linux desktop with dual 4K screens and I don't have problems with high DPI? The only problems I've come across is with Wine which is easly fixed within the winecfg.

I'm on OpenSuSE, using KDE in X11. I DID have scaling problems with Wayland which I avoid until it is fit for daily use.

Of course 4k is 4 times 1080p (or twice in X and Y dimensions) so maybe it's much easier to scale to? 2K on the Framework is an odd resolution so maybe scaling would be more troublesome? 1080p to 1440p would be 1.3x scaling.

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I don’t have problems with high DPI ... only problems I’ve come across is ... I DID have scaling problems with Wayland

This is exactly my point. You did have problems with high DPI. You had to fix some random config and avoid Wayland.

I don't want to deal with this. I want to be able to use whatever software I want and have it work with minimal or no extra "fixing". I value this over slightly neater pixels.

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Yep! The Ryzen 5 7640U. It's never immediately, it generally takes several minutes, maybe just bringing up a Tumblr page with a video and letting it loop for several minutes might hopefully do it, though, I've had a crash when Tumblr wasn't the active tab so you can multitask if you're fine with suddenly getting booted.

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Ooh I didn't know that KDE has touchpad gesture support now, I'll need to give that a go next time I try linux

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Yeah same machine I have. Forgive my ignorance -- I've actually not used Tumblr very much. Could you link me to a page with a looping video? Somehow I'm having trouble finding a non-gif video at the moment.

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How about https://www.tumblr.com/cute-catts/766377029924962304/this-keeps-him-busy-for-the-rest-of-the-night

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Then you shouldnt have picked wayland, period. There is a reason its still experimental. And in general, hearing you talk, im not sure linux is your thing in general. Even in linux mint i have to poke in cli once in a while..

EDIT: as i mentioned below,i just gave it another go as i recently upgraded linux mint. Keyboard layout was stuck to us so altgr didnt work. Teams window could also not be double clicked to maximize and remote desktop via remmina was acting odd, like my mouse had shifted to the right. Desktop wallpaper was also shifted. Like i said, experimental on some systems ( in this case linux mint )

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Hey, funny that you mentioned the Thinkpad. I'm between getting a Thinkpad and the Framework 13. Would you perhaps share things that for your personal preference were downsides in the Thinkpad?

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Via TB4? If I'm not mistaken Oculink eGPU adapter is only possible with the Framework 16. It may worth waiting to perhaps get the new Arrow Lake with a discrete TB5

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Wayland hasn't been experimental for a while. Both KDE Plasma and GNOME have defaulted to Wayland for a while now indicating it's ready to be used.
And in fact, scaling works better on Wayland than on X11 but I suppose ymmv.

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I had the same display failure, but 4 times in about 9 months. It made me pretty done with the whole thing.
I only got the laptop back from the repair centre 2 or so weeks ago but I have no faith the issue is properly fixed now. Let's see how it turns out, if it happens again I'm going to throw this thing out of the window.

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I know a few distros have switched, and i support it 1000%!
I know ive had a few glitches in linux mint which suggests they need to fix some stuff with cinnamon in wayland still ( and a few other apps ), hence my stance towards wayland atm. I love every piece of it but imma wait a liiiitle longer. The reason i think op's issues came from either wayland or fedora because on debian-based distros ive had no issues on my framework 16, nor on the framework 13's that are at the office ( ubuntu, linux mint, windows )

Edit: just gave it another go as i recently upgraded linux mint. Keyboard layout was stuck to us so altgr didnt work. Teams window could also not be double clicked to maximize and remote desktop via remmina was acting odd, like my mouse had shifted to the right. Desktop wallpaper was also shifted. Like i said, experimental on some systems

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nice, that sounds great

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yes, that would be via TB4 for now...

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Yay, It's always gonna be Yay

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My T14 is a great machine. The keyboard is excellent, and its Linux support it great, too. However the screen is pretty bad and has a bad ratio for coding, it always looks dirty because its black shell shows all the oil from your fingerprints. If something breaks out of warranty, you're pretty much SOL. Whereas with the Framework, I can upgrade and fix any component, up to and including the mainboard/CPU.

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Hmm, so I left that link above running in an active Firefox tab for about an hour and a half and didn't see any crashes. I'm wondering again if you may have an obscure hardware issue. Either that or perhaps Fedora recently pushed out an update that fixed that issue. In any case I hope this might help to know. Have a good day!

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framework 13 AMD... yay or nay?